1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus which performs a three-dimensional measurement based on images taken by plural cameras which are arranged so as to take a physical object from different directions.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, an apparatus which perform a measurement to a shape and a surface pattern of the physical object by two-dimensional image processing is widely used on various production sites. In this kind of two-dimensional image processing apparatus, the measurement is performed based on the image in which a representative surface (for example, a bottom surface of the physical object) of the physical object or a measurement target surface (including an inspection target surface) of the physical object is taken from a direction perpendicular to the surface, i.e., the direction in which the surface is viewed from a front side. In this case, the term “measurement” shall include a measurement for the purpose of inspection. In the following description, the term simply referred to as “measurement” shall include “measurement for the purpose of inspection” based on the fact that some sort of measurement is performed in an inspection process.
In order that the same apparatus can be applied to the various measurement purposes, almost all the pieces of two-dimensional image processing apparatus have menus of various processing items, and a user can build the sequence of the processing items by specifying the processing items to be used and an executing procedure. For example, FIG. 9 of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-167678 shows an image processing apparatus, in which the available processing items are presented to a user to cause the user to specify the procedure of executing the processing item.
On the other hand, there is a well-known three-dimensional measurement technique based on a stereoscopic view principle with plural cameras. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-99902 discloses the three-dimensional measurement technique. However, in the current apparatus for the three-dimensional measurement, a kind and a characteristic of the physical object are restricted, and a measurement algorithm is included in order to utilize the given feature of the physical object to perform the measurement. Therefore, the apparatus is put into practical use as the apparatus dedicated to the physical object. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-99902 discloses an image processing apparatus which performs the three-dimensional measurement to the physical object having a rotationally symmetric shape.
If a three-dimensional measurement of a physical object is available on various production sites, a measurement which cannot be performed in a conventional two-dimensional image processing apparatus may be realized, and measurement accuracy and usability may be improved than ever before. However, currently there has been no known three-dimensional measurement apparatus which can be widely used on the various production sites.
The inventors do not develop the conventionally general image processing apparatus specializing in the three-dimensional measurement, but develop the apparatus in which the three-dimensional measurement function is added while the functions of the conventional two-dimensional image processing apparatus are inherited, and thereby the inventors intend to create the new type of image processing apparatus having high versatility in which the three-dimensional measurement can be performed. In view of the foregoing, a problem of the invention is to be able to specify the sequence of the three-dimensional measurement by a user interface in which the available processing items are presented to cause a user to produce the sequence of the processing items, like the conventional two-dimensional image processing apparatus.
Another problem of the invention is to utilize a part of the process used in the conventional two-dimensional image processing apparatus for the three-dimensional measurement.